Hi all. I hope someone can help me figure out what's going on with my birds nest coral. I bought this a couple of months ago, and it went on a wild growth spurt after moving to my tank. The polyps were out and the color was beautiful. Now over the last couple of weeks, it seems to be losing some color, and I really am not sure what I'm looking at with the polyps. Some branches on one side are bright pink and almost look rubbery. Other branches have polyps that seem to be halfway extended. Some look like they're bleaching. I had a hunch that I might actually be giving it too much flow because it is close to a powerhead, so I turned the powerhead up a bit so it received less direct flow. I also thought I might need to increase the photo period, so I added an hour on to the beginning for a total of 10 hours with the full-spectrum lights on (more with the actinics). The coral sits on the highest point in the tank, which is about a foot or so from the bulbs. I run a 6-bulb ATI fixture.
I haven't test the water for calcium yet, but this hasn't been a problem for me since it's the only sps in my tank. I'm going to run some tests tomorrow, and do a water change, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some photos now to see if anyone can spot something obvious that I don't know to look for.
One side, you can see the varying polyp behavior here.
Other side, looks more bleached.
I haven't test the water for calcium yet, but this hasn't been a problem for me since it's the only sps in my tank. I'm going to run some tests tomorrow, and do a water change, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some photos now to see if anyone can spot something obvious that I don't know to look for.
One side, you can see the varying polyp behavior here.
Other side, looks more bleached.